Readers Note

This build is split into two parts, a walk through of building Nocturne, then a straight rundown of in-depth material, such as runes, masteries, itemization, etc...

Nocturne is a fun to play champion, but the only down side is that he has bad AD ratios, and when I mean bad, its just terrible. I've been playing Nocturne since his release. There are many ways to play Nocturne, but I haven't seen anybody post a build like this. Ever since the Quinn patch, Nocturne, just got a major buff with Blade of the Ruined King for DPS. Ever since the release of this item, Nocturne just got viable again because of his terrible AD ratios.

Remember Nocturne is very item dependent. Towards late game, if you can't keep up with what item to dish out, your gonna fall behind. Always pay attention to the current in-game meta.

Remember this is not the only way of playing Nocturne, I'm just posting this build, because I haven't seen anybody post a build that took advantage of the Quinn update.

Nocturne throws a shadow blade which deals 60/105/150/195/120 (+75% of his bonus attack damage) physical damage, and causes champions who are hit to also leave a dusk trail for 5 seconds. While on the trail, Nocturne ignores unit collision and has 15/20/25/30/35% increased movement speed and 15/25/35/45/55 additional attack damage.

This skill puts Nocturne on steroids when he is chasing. With the speed and damage buff, it makes kiting much more easier. This skill also reveals the enemy's position if they are hit with the trail. For example, if you hit Shaco or Twitch while they are cloaked, they will leave this trail while they are cloacked. Makes your chasing way more easier. You can also use this skill to escape because of the movement speed boost that you receive.

Passive: Nocturne empowers his blades, permanently gaining 20/25/30/35/40% attack speed.
Active: Nocturne creates a magical shield for 1.5 seconds which blocks the next enemy spell that hits him. If an ability is blocked, his passive attack speed is doubled for 5 seconds.

This spell shield can save you and buff you up to slice and dice the unlucky person. You can also use this skill to laugh at people who think there gonna kill you with a spell, particularly Karthus's skill Requiem.

Nocturne plants a nightmare into his target's mind, dealing damage each second for total of 50/100/150/200/250 (+ 100% of ability power) over 2 seconds and fearing the target for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds if they do not get out of (465) range by the end of the duration.

Use this skill once you engage in a fight or kiting. Provides hard CC if it goes through. 2 seconds is quite some time for you to just dish out damage. Make the most out of this skill.

Nocturne reduces the sight radius of all enemy champions and removes their ally vision for 4 seconds, this includes champions, minions, wards, towers and clairvoyance. He can then launch himself at a enemy champion with a larget range 2000/2750/35000, dealing 150/250/350 (+1.2 per bonus attack damage) physical damage.

Use this skill to engage team fights. Once you have this on the 3rd rank, you can split push and join in team fights from a mile away with this skill. This skill is also one of the most nastiest crowd control effect in the game. Loss of vision means 0 coordination. Take advantage of this opportunity and zone out champions that are out of formation.

Basic Walkthrough

Beyond this point is just a basic walkthrough, once you get the general feel of Nocturne, just freestyle it. I normally follow the general guidelines of the walkthrough and these are the most common things I do.

Early Game Jungle Routes

Wolves, Golems and Wraiths Spawn at 1:40 with a 1 minute respawn time
Red and Blue buffs spawn at 1:55 with a 5 minute respawn time
Dragon spawns at 2:30 with a 6 minute repsawn time
Baron spawns at 15:00 with a 7 minute respawn timeRed buff makes ganks easier because of the slow.Blue buff gives CDR and mana regen for skill spamming.

Stay aggressive in counter jungling!
The reason why you rush Madred's Razors is so that you can focus hard on counter jungling. Getting a sight ward early helps you stomp on the enemy jungler. Deny their EXP and try to hold a strong sense of map awareness.

Try to gank and counter jungle often. The key for a strong Nocturne early game is holding strong map control.

Rushing Zeal and Bilgewater Cutlass provides a good amount of damage, sustain for such a small price. Rushing these items is a high priority for early and mid game assassinations.

If you're going to take too much crowd control, then take these boots.

Mid Game Notes

Once you have your ult, try to land ganks as soon as your ult kicks in. Focus on aggressive counter jungling and map control.
This is where Nocturne starts to fall off in the game. Make the best of it and put a lot of attention in ganking. Once mid game meta phases out, your gonna have to go into a bruiser build.

Pick This item first if you want to clear your jungle faster. This item also allows you to push lanes faster.
This item just replaced Nocturne's need for Wit's End. This item offers more just for 300 gold. This item provides damage, movement speed and attack speed which synergies with his Umbra Blades.

Blade of the Ruined King-25 Attack Damage-40% Attack Speed-15% Life Steal-Unique Passive:Deals 5% bonus physical damage to the targets current health. 60 max damage against minions and monsters.-Unique Active:Deals 15% of the target champion's maximum health, heals for the same amount, and steals 30% of the target's Movement Speed for 4 seconds. 60 second cool down.

Pick this item if Tanks and Bruisers are a serious treat in the current in-game meta.
With attack speed added to this item in the Quinn patch, this just made Nocturne even more viable again. This item provides attack speed that synergies with Umbra Blades, provides decent attack damage, great passive for shutting down tanks and bruisers, and an active that can be used for escapes or kiting.

Gives you a nice blend of CC, attack damage, and health. Take this item if you are kiting frequently. Builds into Frozen Mallet.

Hexdrinker-25 Attack Damage-25 Magic Resistance-Unique Passive: Lifeline:If you take magic damage that would leave you at less than 30% of your maximum health, you gain a shield that would absorb 250 magic damage for 5 seconds. 90 second cool down.

One of my favorite magic resistance items. Great item, if you are looking for both magic resistance and attack damage. The magic shield is also useful to save you from magic damage.

This is a huge cool down reduction. If you need the cool down, take it.

Enchantment: Furor-Unique Passive: Furor:Whenever you deal damage with a single target attack or spell, you gain 12% movement speed that decays over 2 seconds.
This enchantment lets you kite the enemy champion. If you don't want the enemy to escape, take this item.

Late Game Notes

Late Game Objectives:
Split Push
Engage Team Fights

Split push, then when you need to join in a team fight, use Paranoia to join in the fight.

This is the meta where Nocturne falls of the hardest. You have to switch into a bruiser fast, if you don't, your just gonna fall hard.

Build Infinity Edge to finish off your damage. Start building more defensive items according to the situation, if you don't build defensive items, you're going to be squishy and get crushed in team fights.
You should sell your Madred's Razors if you need more defensive items.

Remember, Nocturne late game is all itemization. You have to pick items according to the situation! Pay attention to the current in-game meta and try to find out what would give your team the bigger edge in team fights!

Also pick up armor penetration is highly situational. If the enemy team has 3 or more champions with over 100 armor, pick up an armor penetration item.

Late Game Item Notes

Offensive Goal

Infinity Edge-70 Attack Damage-25% Critical Strike Chance-Unique Passive:offers 50% bonus critical strike damage (250% damage instead of 200%).
This item offers a good deal of stats for the price. The second more expensive item on LoL. This item's passive and critical strike chance synergies with Statikk Shiv and offers high bonus damage that synergies with Paranoia.

Randuin's Omen-70 Armor-500 Health-Unique Passive:Cold Steel. If you are hit by a basic attack, you slow the attacker's Attack Speed by 20% and their Movement Speed by 10%.-Unique Active: Slows the Movement Speed of nearby enemy units by 35% for 2 seconds + 1 second for every 100 armor and Magic Resistance you have. 500 range. 60 second cooldown.

Just a note, do not active Blade of the Ruined King while the active effect is still in effect. This item is great when you engage fights with your ult. Dive in with Paranoia and activate the active. Great defensive item, offers great utility, and strong stats.

This item bombs you with utility and massive amounts of stats for your team. If you need a defensive boots for your team in team fights, take this item now! Dive in with Paranoia and just crush the enemy team while staying strong. Taking this item also gives a strong boost of stats, so if you need to take another offensive item, it makes it more safer.

This item provides damage and defensive stats. Deciding to get this item is tricky. If you know that you won't be able to carry the game, then just go towards the off-tank side. You become tankier, while still providing decent damage in team fights.

If you need a strong defensive buff to your champion, take this item. This item is like a steroid pill that buffs up your defensive. Not a bad item, just avoid this item if your gonna go against champions that destroy HP like Vayne, Poppy, etc...

This item gives a strong well rounded stats to any champion. Great passive, gives you every defensive stat you need. I normally take this item if I'm trying to get another offensive item.

Maw of Malmortius-55 Attack Damage-36 Magic Resistance-Unique Passive:Gain +1 Attack Damage for every 2.5% of your maximum health you are missing.-Unique Passive: Lifeline.If you take magic damage that you leave you at less than 30% of your maximum health, you gain a shield that absorbs 300 magic damage for 5 seconds. 90 second cool down.

This item gives a great AD boost while giving you some decent magic resist. I normally take this item if I took Hexdrinker.

Offers attack damage and magic resist. Take this item if you are getting bombed with CC the moment you engage team fights. For example, if I know the moment I dive in with Paranoia and I'm gonna get hard with a burst of CC. I take this item so I can get out of that dangerous position and just damage the enemy team.

This item is a must if the enemy team has three or more attack speed based champions. The passive provides a strong debuff in team fights. Great passive, offers a huge amount of armor, good mana, and a strong cool down reduction.

This item is more expensive, but it offers too much at the same time. Take this item only if the enemy team has 3 or more champions with over 100 armor. Also take this item if you have 3 or more AD champions in your team (including yourself).

In-Depth Material

Beyond this point just contained other in-depth material if you're just interested in reading more about Nocturne.

Pros/Cons

Pros

Fast DPS champion Shroud of Darkness spell shield Paranoia is one of the hardest CC in the game, literally can break the enemy teams formation.
Has fear
Great kiting

Cons

Melee
Squishy late game
Has to engage with Paranoia
Bad AD ratios
Poor escape
Needs a good understanding of itemization to successfully play Nocturne correctly
One wrong item on Nocturne late game can be costly

Masteries

I build 21-09-00 because I want to get a strong AD boost. Remember My focus is on early to mid assassin then phase into a bruiser late game. Getting those early boosts in AD will help you a lot. 9 defense to give you good defensive stats for early game.

If You're Feeling Cocky

Itemization

I normally build Nocturne attack speed based ever since he came out. Nocturne has terrible ad ratios on his set. Umbra Blades Gives great steroid, but he has to wait 10 seconds and the cool down can be reduced by basic attacks which encourages us to improve on attack speed. Duskbringer is his only solid AD based skill that he has. Paranoia AD ratio is okay, not suburb because it scales 120% only to his bonus attack stat. So base attack stats are removed from the picture. Shroud of Darkness gives an attack speed boots which makes it more appealing to invest more in attack speed.

Bad AD ratios leads to other DPS alternatives.

Nocturne normally functions better as an attack speed bruiser, but with the introduction of Statikk Shiv and the new Blade of the Ruined King. Playing DPS Nocturne is more pleasing than ever.

There is only a limit to how much DPS you can put in a champion before they lose their efficiency. Once you gain a strong DPS set, you should invest your resources into defensive stats so you can engage in team fights.

Nocturne also falls hard late game making it an issue. Hes great DPS wise early and mid game, but once the nukers and ad carries get buffed up, you need to start developing towards a Bruiser.

Try to remember all the defensive items. Knowing what item to build will make your games easier.

Remember this build focuses Nocturne as an early and mid assassin, then late game he turns into a bruiser.

This is a huge cool down reduction. If you need the cool down, take it.

Enchantment: Furor-Unique Passive: Furor:Whenever you deal damage with a single target attack or spell, you gain 12% movement speed that decays over 2 seconds.
This enchantment lets you kite the enemy champion. If you don't want the enemy to escape, take this item.

This item just replaced Nocturne's need for Wit's End. This item offers more just for 300 gold. This item provides damage, movement speed and attack speed which synergies with his Umbra Blades.

Blade of the Ruined King-25 Attack Damage-40% Attack Speed-15% Life Steal-Unique Passive:Deals 5% bonus physical damage to the targets current health. 60 max damage against minions and monsters.-Unique Active:Deals 15% of the target champion's maximum health, heals for the same amount, and steals 30% of the target's Movement Speed for 4 seconds. 60 second cool down.

With attack speed added to this item in the Quinn patch, this just made Nocturne even more viable again. This item provides attack speed that synergies with Umbra Blades, provides decent attack damage, great passive for shutting down tanks and bruisers, and an active that can be used for escapes or kiting.

Infinity Edge-70 Attack Damage-25% Critical Strike Chance-Unique Passive:offers 50% bonus critical strike damage (250% damage instead of 200%).
This item offers a good deal of stats for the price. The second more expensive item on LoL. This item's passive and critical strike chance synergies with Statikk Shiv and offers high bonus damage that synergies with Paranoia.

Randuin's Omen-70 Armor-500 Health-Unique Passive:Cold Steel. If you are hit by a basic attack, you slow the attacker's Attack Speed by 20% and their Movement Speed by 10%.-Unique Active: Slows the Movement Speed of nearby enemy units by 35% for 2 seconds + 1 second for every 100 armor and Magic Resistance you have. 500 range. 60 second cooldown.

Just a note, do not active Blade of the Ruined King while the active effect is still in effect. This item is great when you engage fights with your ult. Dive in with Paranoia and activate the active. Great defensive item, offers great utility, and strong stats.

This item bombs you with utility and massive amounts of stats for your team. If you need a defensive boots for your team in team fights, take this item now! Dive in with Paranoia and just crush the enemy team while staying strong. Taking this item also gives a strong boost of stats, so if you need to take another offensive item, it makes it more safer.

This item provides damage and defensive stats. Deciding to get this item is tricky. If you know that you won't be able to carry the game, then just go towards the off-tank side. You become tankier, while still providing decent damage in team fights.

If you need a strong defensive buff to your champion, take this item. This item is like a steroid pill that buffs up your defensive. Not a bad item, just avoid this item if your gonna go against champions that destroy HP like Vayne, Poppy, etc...

This item gives a strong well rounded stats to any champion. Great passive, gives you every defensive stat you need. I normally take this item if I'm trying to get another offensive item.

Maw of Malmortius-55 Attack Damage-36 Magic Resistance-Unique Passive:Gain +1 Attack Damage for every 2.5% of your maximum health you are missing.-Unique Passive: Lifeline.If you take magic damage that you leave you at less than 30% of your maximum health, you gain a shield that absorbs 300 magic damage for 5 seconds. 90 second cool down.

This item gives a great AD boost while giving you some decent magic resist. I normally take this item if I took Hexdrinker.

Offers attack damage and magic resist. Take this item if you are getting bombed with CC the moment you engage team fights. For example, if I know the moment I dive in with Paranoia and I'm gonna get hard with a burst of CC. I take this item so I can get out of that dangerous position and just damage the enemy team.

This item is a must if the enemy team has three or more attack speed based champions. The passive provides a strong debuff in team fights. Great passive, offers a huge amount of armor, good mana, and a strong cool down reduction.

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!